The Danger of Clinton Fatigue
Of course if I was a betting woman, I'd be comfortable betting a lot that Clinton will be the nominee, but you never know what will happen....
For Hillary Clinton, the problem with Anthony Weiner’s candidacy is supposed to be that it conjures memories of her own marital troubles. It's not good to have an ongoing public discussion of the parallels between Weiner’s wife and former Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin (who is standing by her man) and Clinton (who did a version of the same). But didn't voters reconcile themselves Clinton's personal past long ago? Plus, as the Weiner three-ring circus adds more rings and more freak show characters by the hour—the whirling communications director of expletives, the pouty former intern, and the dishy phone paramour (phonamour?)—Weiner's behavior and the mushrooming calamity of his public life surpasses anything Bill Clinton could conjure up.
But, for Hillary Clinton, the problem with the Weiner fiasco may not be the memories but the mishigas. Though she and her husband have nothing to do with this campaign, the episode does bring to mind a familiar feeling about the Clinton enterprise—that it was always surrounded by some kind of drama. "That's what we were talking about with No Drama Obama," says a veteran of Obama's 2008 campaign reflecting on the Weiner episode. "That's how we ran against her."
Anthony Weiner will almost certainly be long gone, forgotten, or irrelevant when and if Hillary Clinton runs for president. But even if the Weiner problem doesn’t’ linger, the episode highlights two challenges that Hillary Clinton 2016 will face. The first is how she will dispel the drama question that attends her family name and present herself afresh, and the second is whether the drama f the kind kicked up by Weiner gives her pause about running again.
The issue lurking behind Clinton drama is really one of Clinton fatigue. Presidential campaigns, like Christmas, seem to come earlier every year. With Hillary Clinton as a possible candidate, this has exacerbated the trend. She is a popular subject and she would be the most viable female candidate ever. So CNN just announced that it has contracted a documentary of her life. NBC has a miniseries in the works. Both ventures are literally banking that Clinton will run for president. Sure, it's 90 degrees outside, but might as well put up the lights. The problem with this trend is that by the time a candidacy actually rolls around, everyone will be thoroughly sick of the enterprise. The tree will be a collection of needles at the base of some scrawny branches.
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http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2013/07/hillary_clinton_fatigue_will_the_constant_drama_around_the_former_secretary.html
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